The “BaKol” Mindset

 

What exactly does it mean to be “blessed with it all”? This is the question that needs answering when we read about the end of Avraham’s life in Parshat Chayei Sara (24:1):

וְאַבְרָהָ֣ם זָקֵ֔ן בָּ֖א בַּיָּמִ֑ים וַֽה בֵּרַ֥ךְ אֶת־אַבְרָהָ֖ם בַּכֹּֽל:

And Abraham was old, advanced in days, and the Lord had blessed Abraham BaKol (with everything).

Rashi quotes that the Gematriya of the Hebrew word “BaKol” is the same as the word “Ben”, son. As the chapter goes on to describe the search for a wife for Yitzchak, it prefaces that story that reminding the reader that Yitzchak was a blessing for Avraham (and Sara), the fulfillment of the Divine promise of progeny. An alternate explanation suggests that Avraham was also blessed with a daughter whose name was “Bakol”. Rabbi Marc Angel suggests that the reference here to “Bakol” is meant toi remind us of the many places where Hashem promised, blessed and reassured Avraham that He would make Avraham the patriarch of God’s chosen nation. Some examples of verses where the word “kol” is used are:  “And through you, all (kol) the families of the earth will be blessed” (12:3). “For all (kol) the land which you see, to you will I give it, and to your seed forever” (13:15). “This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your seed after you: every (kol) male among you shall be circumcised” (17:10). Rabbi Angel suggests that at the end of his life Avraham, like many people, questioned his accomplishments and wondered about his impact on the world and his ultimate legacy. The blessing of “BaKol” is Hashem’s reassurance that the Divine promises will be fulfilled, and Avraham will leave an everlasting legacy.

I’d like to offer another explanation. Instead of translating the word “BaKol” as “WITH everything” we can understand the word “BaKol” as meaning “THROUGHOUT everything”. Avraham had some challenges during the course of his life. Midrash identifies ten major tests that Avraham endured. This does not include all of the normal tests, challenges and setbacks that anyone who is human will experience over the course of a lifetime. We would not have blamed Avraham if he felt resentful, worn out, perhaps even a little pessimistic after all that he went through. Instead, he realized that he had lived a blessed life. Avraham realized that Hashem had blessed him at all moments of his life. Both the triumphs and the chllenges were blessings. Some blessings are more obvious, and some blessings are in disguise. We too can strive to emulate our forefather Avraham with a “BaKol” mindset. As the Talmud teaches (Brachot 60b) לעולם יהא אדם רגיל לומר כל דעביד רחמנא לטב עביד: “One must always accustom oneself to say: Everything that God does, He does for the best.”

 

Feeling Lucky

 Though they are both available in Florida, I assume that most people who bought a lottery ticket this week played Powerball, and not Mega Millions. That’s because the Mega Millions jackpot was “only” $120 million, while Powerball jackpot was estimated to be more than $1.2 billion. The odds of winning Powerball: 1 in 292 million. Realists hear the odds and say “there’s no way I am going to win”. Hopeless optimists hear the odds and say “that means I have a shot!” Lottery commissions rely on human psychology and spirit of optimism to fuel sales. Skeptics mock it as a “spirit of delusion”. And yet when jackpots grow absurdly large, even skeptics will play for a chance to win a billion bucks.

What are the odds of winning BOTH? (A man is allowed to dream, can’t he?)

The odds of winning both Powerball and Mega Millions is 1 in 88 QUADRILLION: that’s a 1 followed by fifteen zeros. It’s the number that comes after trillions. Winning “just” the Powerball jackpot of over a billion dollars would certainly change a person’s life. The question, though, is: would that change necessarily be for the better?

TIME magazine published an article (http://time.com/4176128/powerball-jackpot-lottery-winners/) about the terrible things that happen to lottery winners. The article quoted a study that found that 70% of people who come into large sums of money lose it only a few years later. The author goes on to cite several examples of worst-case scenarios involving big ticket winners, including bankruptcy and even murder.

Monetary wealth comes at a price. Literally. Of course your chances of surviving the pitfalls of being rich are probably greater if the wealth is accumulated over time rather than all at once. However, in either case money (in all amounts) carries the burden of responsibility to use it wisely.

Perkei Avot teaches, “More money, more problems.” The rabbis were trying to remind us that with the good comes the bad. As some Powerball winners discover, more money seems like a blessing until it creates more problems than you started with. This week’s Torah portion, Lech Lecha, also has an interesting take on that very idea.

Parshat Lech Lecha brings us finally into the narrative of Abraham and Sarah and the true beginning of our history as the Jewish people. The text begins with Avram and Sarai leaving their land, the land that they knew and felt comfortable in, to follow God’s command and go to Egypt. The text continues with their ongoing problems in Egypt and ends with the changing of their names from Avram/Abram to Avraham/Abraham and Sarai to Sarah.

Early in the Parshat Lech Lecha we learn that Abraham went from Egypt back to the Negev with all that he had, together with his nephew Lot. In describing his wealth the Torah states (13:2) וְאַבְרָ֖ם כָּבֵ֣ד מְאֹ֑ד בַּמִּקְנֶ֕ה בַּכֶּ֖סֶף וּבַזָּהָֽב, “And Abram was very heavy with cattle, with silver, and with gold.”

Here the word kaved is used, which translates to mean heavy or burdened. In fact, Rashi comments on the choice of the word kaved and states “very heavy: laden with burdens.” Avraham teaches us that wealth can be burden, and it is also relative and subjective. Avraham was rich with material items, but as we learn later, felt “poor” before he and Sarah were finally able to have children. For a righteous person like Avraham, great wealth is accompanied by a great responsibility to maintain proper perspective and to use one’s resources responsibly. As descendants of Avraham this remains our challenge as well.